Process of preserving fodder.



J. K. SHARPE, JR. PROCESS OF PRESERVING FODDE R APPLICATION FILEDB11028, 1908.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

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PROCESS OF PRESERVING FODDER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH K. SHARPE,J1., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion'and State ofIndiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes ofPreserving Fodder, of which the following is a specification.

Corn stalks 'and leaves, when properly shredded, make an excellentfodder for cattle, and it is a growing practice to haul such materialfrom the field and run it through what is known as a corn husker andshredder, which removes the ears of corn from the stalks, and shreds thestalks and leaves, which shredded material is withdrawn from the machineby pneumatic stackers, orother means, and discharged into a mow, barn,or other inclosu're. As this shredding is performed during the fall andwinter months, after the corn crop hasweathered and been cured, thematerial is usually in damp condition, and when shredded and stored inlarge quantities oftenbecomes heated and moldy, in which state it isunpalatable and therefore unfit for fodder, and, rapidly developing intoa heated mass, becomes dangerous because of fire from spontaneouscombustion, when with great difliculty if at all it must be promptlyremoved from the storehouse, and becomes a total loss. As such fodder isshredded or otherwise treated by machinery it is handled very rapidlyand in large quantities, and in the case of corn the shocks are fed tothe machine and shredded at the rate of about one shock per minute. Theshredded material issues from the shredding apparatus in continuous andheavy masses, and with a pneumatic stacker is withdrawn therefrom andviolently blown into an inclosure where it is stored in comparativelyloose condition.

While I have particularlyreferred to a pneumatic stacker, it will beunderstood, of

course, that other types of conveyors are Specification of LettersPatent. 7

Patented J an. 2, 1912..

Application filed December 28, 1908. Serial No. 469,622.

in a manner as to cause it to mingle with the shredded material whilebeing discharged andbefore it is deposited in an inclosure by aconveyer, so that as the material is being deposited in a storehouse itis so laden with the preservative as to insure that there will be athorough mixing of the preservative toshredded or separated material,

and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the dotted line 2-2 'inFig. 1.

In said drawings the portions marked 5 represent the material receivingchamberof a pneumatic stacker, and 6 a stacker fan which withdrawsmaterial which has been treated by the shredding machine and dischargesthe same in a'storehouse through the stacker pipe 7. Duringthe'operation of shredding corn fodder, (or separating other products),and depositing it in an inclos'ure I introduce a stream of salt or otherpreservative into the stacker chamber, or at the mouth of the stackerpipe, or at any other appropriate location, and cause the same toconstantly or intermittently flow into the shredded or separatedmaterial, which, thus treated, is thoroughly mixed as it is beingdeposited and loosely stored. As an example of means for accomplishingthis salting or preserving process I have shown a hopper, as 8, forcontaining the preservative, as plainly indicated in Fig. 1, from whichthe salt may flow by gravity, or be fed therefrom by a spiral conveyer 9or otherwise, in which latter case the conveyer may communicate with andbe operated by the shaftlO ordinarily provided for automaticallyswinging the stacker pipe, and these elements, as indicated, may beconnected by. gears, as '11 and 12. As hereinbefore indicated, however,my process consists in introducing a supply of salt or otherpreservative into shredded or material otherwise treated while the sameis being rapidly received and discharged from the machine, so that as itis deposited in a storehouse it is plentifully supplied with the epreservative; and the fodder thus enriched the same has been shredded byand is being and rendered highly palatable, end kept m 'dlschar'ged froma shredding machine an 10 preserved condition. wtiiilel being conveyedtherefrom and loosely 0mm: s re e The herein described method ofpreserv- JOSEPH K. SHARPE, JR.

ing comm'muted fodder, which consists in Witnesses: introducing areservetive material into and Homn R. BARKER, mixing it wit the streamof fodder after WAIIIER J. TINGLE.

